DHL, the international logistics company, has said in a press release that astudy commissioned by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on regional trade flows, Trading up: A New Export Landscape for ASEAN and Asia, shows that Association of SouthEast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is at the cross-roads on pursuing deeper integration among fellow member-countries.The share of exports to China from all ASEAN countries in the study, except Vietnam, has risen sharply while intra-ASEAN trade has shown a declining trend.The release of the study is timed to coincide with the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (ASEAN-BIS), which DHL has been a key sponsor for the past five years. The study concentrated on the ASEAN bloc's six largest economies -Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - andanalysed the trade of its closest regional competitors, China, Japan andIndia. Shifting import and export trends from 2000 to 2007 are analysed focusing particularly on the role played by high-value exports as compared with lower-value bulk commodity goods. The report shows that trading volumes have changed over the past sevenyears, the composition of trade has shifted, and, most importantly, tradeflows have realigned to respond to changing economic and businessconditions.DHL believes that for ASEAN to sustain growth, governments and businesses alike have to understand how trade patterns and flows areevolving, particularly as new centres of manufacturing such as China andIndia rise in the global trading system."Our role as a trade facilitator goes beyond the movement of goods to thepursuit of trade patterns and how they are changing across Asia andglobally," said Dan McHugh, CEO, DHL Express - Asia Pacific. "This report provides ASEAN governments with an understanding of the evolving trade patterns within and outside of ASEAN, as well as equipping businesses with the insights to re-assess their strategies in the new export landscape."
